


Dahlia?

by loudandsad



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: American Politics, Amnesia, Asgard (Marvel), Asgardian Liquor (Marvel), Disney Movies, F/M, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki Posing as Odin (Marvel), Memory Loss, Odin's Bad Parenting (Marvel), Period-Typical Racism, Post-Avengers (2012), Protective Loki (Marvel), Protective Steve, Psychological Trauma, Racist Language, Soft Loki, Telepathy, heimdall is a cunt, himbo thor, unfortunately a het ship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29511660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loudandsad/pseuds/loudandsad
Summary: Dahlia had spent every day since 1926 in captivity, yet she had barely aged. she had been discovered with no memory of who she was, and it seemed humans were more desperate to figure it out than she was.They hadn't come close to an answer, even after all those years, until the fateful day in 2012, when Loki was captured and held on the helicarrier.
Relationships: Loki/Original Character
Kudos: 7





	1. chapter one.

"He has an army called the chitauri..." Thor explained, standing by the table the rest of the avengers were currently sitting at, aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. "They're not of Asgard, or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the tesseract." the god added, meeting Steve Roger's concerned gaze.

"An army...from outer space..." Steve said as if he was digesting the info in his old little 40s brain. "So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Banner concluded aloud, before Maria Hill stepped closer to the table.

"I don't mean to interrupt your dicussions, but Thor, someone in another one of our departments requested to talk to you, would that be possible? It'll be quick, or at least that's what they told me," she asked, looking up at the god who was towering over her even from a few feet away. Which isnt all that surprising, considering he's 6'6.

Thor looked at the other avengers before nodding, "Why, yes of course, is it about my brother?" he asked as he started following Maria to a different room in the helicarrier. "I don't believe it is," she shook her head, "I don't know for sure what they want, I'm not allowed much info in this specific area," she sighed slightly before gesturing for Thor to walk into a room, and he did, with not much worry because...why would he be worried, he was a literal god compared to them.

-

As Thor walked into the room, there were two people there, both sitting in chairs with a small table and a chair left empty. "You must be Thor," one of the men greeted. the other man, who wasn't speakibg, had a notebook and a pen in his hand.

"I am," Thor confirmed, still standing awkwardly by the door that had, at this point, been closed by Maria Hill.

"I'm pleased to meet you. I've been extremely intrigued and interested in you ever since I first heard of your appearance in New Mexico," The man said, with a small, slightly unnerving smile. "Please, take a seat," Thor did as suggested, with a big sigh, and looked at them as if he was super happy someone actually wanted his intel on something.

the conversation carried on for about five minutes, the man with a notebook writing down everything Thor said. The convo consisted of the other man asking Thor various questions about Asgardian pshyche, and their means of transportation from Asgard to Earth, and back. After the five minutes were up, the man picked up a small remote, and turned on a medium sized screen that was hanging on the wall.

"We've been keeping Patient Zero in protective care for the last 86 years. Physically, she looks to have aged for maybe a year." The man turned his head to Thor. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you? I'm seeing a lot of similarities."

Thor leaned closer to the screen, squinting at it to look at it. "That is....a white picture." he concluded, seeing as the midgardian hadnt even put a photo up yet.

The SHIELD agent looked at the screen, before letting out a small "oh," and clicking his remote once more. it switched to an image, a live broadcast, of a young girl, who looked around 16 to 18 years old, sitting in an empty room. Her skin was dark, almost the same shade as Heimdall or Fury's, and her hair was long, reaching all the way down to her hips even though it had been braided into two messy, unkept braids. she was wearing something that could honestly be a prisoner's attire, and her features were recognizeable. big, dark, puppylike eyes, and prominent eyebrows. she was wearing some sort of gloves, though they looked restricting, more like advanced handcuffs than protective gear. she was sitting on the floor of the room, and looked tired, maybe even drugged.

Thor inched even closer to the screen now, looking at it as if he was inspecting it thoroughly, before turning to the agents. "you've been keeping her locked in there for 86 years?" he asked, turning to the agent, and the man nodded, "She was found in 1926."

"Are you trying to drive her mad?" he asked, looking at them with a slightly disgusted expression.

"She was a national threat." the man explained calmly, "She's been in great hands the entire time, don't worry." he added, clearing his throat and giving the man taking notes a slightly concerned look.

"Where is she?" the norse god asked, leaning back away from the screen. The SHIELD agent cleared his throat once more. "She's safe, hidden in one of SHIELD's facilities.

"Bring her on the ship." Thor stated, before standing up, "I am not answering any more of your questions unless I get to speak to her." he added sternly, clearly bothered by the turn this conversation had taken, as he opened the door and left, heading back to talk to the other Avengers and probably to complain about what he had just been informed of.


	2. chapter two.

Agent Romanoff approached the glass cage they had placed Loki in, and sat down on a chair outside it. they were talking, both attempting to manipulate each other.

As Natasha started speaking of Barton, Loki smiled slightly at her. "What will you do, if I vow to spare him?" he asked, Natasha paused for a short moment. "Not let you out."

Loki smirked slightly at the redhead's response. "I have a suggestion." he responded, leaning forward slightly. "I need to speak with someone and I'm very certain you can help me get to do so. If I get to talk to her...I will let you talk to Barton."

Natasha looked confused, like this went in a very different direction than she had planned. "Who? Thor?" she asked, glancing at the camera for a short moment.

Loki shook his head, "Oh, no...I have no need to speak with Thor. I need you to let me speak with Pasient Zero." he said without breaking eye contact with the Russian on the other side of the glass.

"...Who?" she asked, genuinely. Natasha was high up in SHIELD, sure, but she was only on clearance level 6, along with Clint. Yes, Clint had worked for SHIELD for longer, but what info was she missing now?

"You do not need worry about who she is, you should be worrying about getting her here, to see me, if you want to see Barton again, that is." Loki said calmly, as if he was already sure he would get what he wanted.

"How do you suppose I trust you?" Natasha asked, leaning slightly forward in her seat. "You have my word." The god answered sheepishly, "Besides, you owe him, don't you?"

-

"Who is Pasient Zero and why has no one told me about them?" Natasha asked as she returned to the other avengers, including Nick Fury this time around, except...Thor seemed to have left while Nat had been conversing with his brother, before even hearing that Loki had mentioned Patient Zero.

"I would also like to know who that is," Tony added, seeing as they had all heard Loki and Natasha's conversation through the cameras.

"Pasient Zero is... Pasient Zero. That's all she is, a really, really peculiar young girl, who we keep in protective care." Fury responded sternly, as if he was bothered by the topic at hand.

"Peculiar how?" Banner asked, looking at the other avengers with an unsure expression. Steve's eyes were locked on the table, he looked lost in thoughts.

"That is confidential informatio-" Fury started, "Patient Zero is still alive?" Steve interrupted Fury, looking up at him. Fury let out a frustrated sigh, before answering. "Yes."

"Oh, it's confidential for everyone except Steve, huh? Funny how that works." Tony muttered, giving Steve a clearly bothered sideye. 

"I don't think we should be having this conversation." Fury stated firmly, but Natasha wasn't finished. "We need Patient Zero to get Clint back," she stated as if they had already agreed to comply to Loki's demands. "We are not giving Loki what he wants." Fury quickly shut her idea down, before pausing in thought, a slight hint of confusion. "...Where is Thor?"

-

Thor had already been led into yet another room by the time Natasha had returned from her talk with Loki, this time he was locked in, but again, he had asked for this. Well, at least asked for a conversation with Patient Zero, who it seemed, wasnt allowed in unlocked rooms.

The room was similar to the previous one. It was cold, and not very large. Patient Zero was already sitting by the time Thor entered, but this time she actually got a chair. Her hands were in actual handcuffs now, really thick ones that covered basically her entire wrist, and there was barely 8 inches between them, keeping them relatively close to each other.

There was no table in this room, but there was an empty chair for Thor. The braids she had looked even more messy in person, or perhaps they had just gotten messier when bringing her to the helicarrier. she was wearing the same prisoner like outfit, and she still didn't seem...sober.

Thor looked her up and down before sitting down on the chair, he was about 10 feet away from her, opposite side of the room.

"Why am I here?" the girl asked, her voice was flat, she definitely wasn't completely sober. Her voice was hoarse, but it didn't sound like a natural growl, more like she had been screaming or yelling before arriving. her big eyes were looking right at Thor, but her face was almost expressionless.

"I'm Thor-" Thor introduced, clearing his throat slightly. "I was asked a lot of questions about you and your autonomy, and I wanted t-" before he could finish his sentence, the girl interrupted. "You're not from here." she stated, still looking at him. She had barely blinked since he had entered the room.

"Uh...No." he agreed, "How do y-"  
"I can tell." she claimed, still staring at him. He uncomfortably looked around the room. "...H-How exactly-"  
"Your way of speech." she stated quietly, finally moving her gaze, now staring at his shoes. "Your attire." she added, even more quietly. "It is similar to what they captured me in." she said, almost as a whisper.

"Really-?" Thor asked, leaning forward slightly. He wasn't intimidated by the girl, more like uncomfortable by her...mannerisms.

She nodded at his question. "Have you come to move me?" she asked, "It has been a while since they moved me now. I was expecting something to happen...not exactly this but...something." she moved her eyes back up.

Thor shook his head, "I wanted to speak with you, because I believe you may not be from this realm," he cleared his throat, "Are you?"

She looked like she was really concentrating her eyes when looking at Thor. "What is Asgard?" she asked, staring the god dead in the eyes.

He shifted how he was sitting, straightening his back awkwardly in the chair. "Asgard is my home. It is the realm I belong to, and soon I will be the king of it," he looked her up and down, "Is it...your realm too?" he asked, before glancing awkwardly at the small camera in the corner of the room.

"Why would you ever leave such a place for earth?" she asked, her eyes still locked on his, even if he wasn't meeting her. "How do you know about my realm? Are you of Asgard?" Thor asked once more, slightly more persistent, but not aggressive.

"I can see it." She said less quieter than she had earlier been speaking. "In your eyes, your... mind." she hummed. Her eyes looked tired, but at the same time like they were working.

"You're a telepath?" he asked, looking back at the camera. "I get called many things." she said, before closing her eyes, her head leaning slightly down. "I don't think I have the answers you want from me, Thor." she said his name as if she had never heard such a name before, as if it was weird to pronounce at all.

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking at her instead of the camera.

"I do not know where I am from, what 'realm' I belong to. I do not know more about me than you seem to know." She said in a very monotone voice. "I don't know why I don't age like I am meant to. I don't know why I'm so heavy, I don't know why I can see into minds." she slowly forced her words out as if it was exhausting. "All I know is Patient Zero, and life within locked rooms."

Thor ran a hand through his hair and let out a small, uncomfortable laugh. "I don't think you belong in locked rooms for being stronger than the mortals around you," he shook his head, "What's your name?" he asked, a small smile on his face, an attempt to look friendly.

"Patient Zero." she responded, opening her eyes to look at him again. "That cannot possibly be your name." Thor argued, still keeping the dumb smile on his face.

"It's the only thing I have ever been called." she claimed, and Thor's smile dropped a little. "But your life before they found you-"

"I have no memory of any life before they found me."

Before Thor could utter another sentence. The door was knocked on. "Conversation's over, come on out Thor," an agent from the other side of the door said.

Thor's smile fell, as he stood up, still looking at Patient Zero. "I will make this right for you," he promised, before exiting the room.

-

"You are treating her like a wild animal." Thor scolded the agent who had just forced him out of the room, "Why is she so...drowsy?"

"That's classified, Mister...Thor."

"Prince." Thor corrected, slightly annoyed but not really that bothered.

"...Prince Thor." the agent corrected himself aswell.

"I have a feeling I know this girl." Thor muttered as he followed the agent back to the other Avengers.

"Who?"

"Patient Zero."

"Oh...Well, I sincerely doubt that," the agent shrugged.

"Why?" Thor asked, looking down at said agent.

"She doesn't even know herself, why would you?"


	3. chapter three.

" We're actually giving him what he wants?" Cap asked as he looked at the remaining Avengers still sitting around the table. they hadnt seen Thor and Patient Zero's conversation, but they were still arguing about Natasha's will to let Loki speak with Patient Zero."

"What are we discussing?" Thor asked as he took his seat once more.

"Your brother offered Romanoff a deal," Tony told Thor, turning to look at him, "He wants to speak with someone in SHIELD custody, in return for us getting to speak with Barton." he looked over at Natasha, "Personally, I think it's stupid." the billionare concluded.

"I don't think it seems like a super good idea, but what would he even do? he doesnt have the tesseract, nor the sceptre, and we have cameras in there either way." Steve thought aloud, looking at Natasha with slightly empathetic eyes.

Tony sighed as if he was bothered and looked over at Banner, "Back me up here, Bruce," Bruce looked over at Tony, then to Steve. "I don't know, I kind of agree with Steve here."

"I owe Clint this." Natasha stated firmly. And Thor finally spoke up. "Who could he possibly want to talk to? He doesn't like Midgardians." he said, acting confused. He was never really too caught up in any conversation with these humans.

"Patient Zero." Natasha responded as she looked over at Steve. "She's this...never ageing gir-" Steve started to explain, but was quickly interrupted by Thor. "I was just speaking with her." he stated, looking at the others confused, "You-You guys knew about her? You're okay with how they have been isolating a young girl for decades?" The god asked, surprised by the others already knowing when he had just been caught up to speed.

"We didnt know." Tony stated, moving his eyes over to once again give steve a slight glare. "Steve knew." he added. "Hey, it's not like that, Tony."

"Oh really?" Tony asked rhetorically with a dramatic eyeroll.

"What does Loki want with her?" Thor asked, ignoring the mortals' stupid bickering.

"We don't know, but I need to talk with Barton." Nat responded, fairly nonchalant about why Loki wanted to speak with a freaky forever young black girl.

There was a pause in the conversation before Thor cleared his throat. "We are not forcing Patient Zero to do anything. If she consents to speaking with Loki, and it helps you reach your dear friend, I understand why you want to do it." he looked at the other avengers' reactions. "I would do the same for any one of my friends. Loki may be cruel, but I don't think he is exactly in any spot to hurt the girl."

Steve took a slightly deep breath before sighing and standing up, "I'll talk to Fury."

-

"We've got cameras on you the entire ti-" Thor explained to Patient Zero, before he even got to finish, she interrupted him. "You always do." she didn't look at him while talking to him this time. They were standing outside the room Loki's cell was located in, Thor had one arm on the girl's shoulder, guiding her to where they were going. She was still wearing the handcuffs from earlier, but it seemed like whatever they had drugged her up on was starting to wear off.

"Right..." Thor cleared his throat, pausing outside the door. "You're doing this voluntarily, right?" he asked her quietly, just to make sure. She nodded, "It's not every day you get to meet someone who isn't a government official." she said quietly, with slight sarcastic undertones.

The god nodded awkwardly before opening the door, walking Patient Zero over to Loki's cell door. "Step away from the door, Loki," he muttered to his younger brother, who did as asked, sitting down on the small desk at the opposite side of the glass cell with his hands folded in his lap, eyes locked at Patient Zero as if he was inspecting her from a distance.

She didn't seem particularly nervous. a bit more nervous than earlier, but definitely not scared. Could she read Loki's mind? Thor didn't know. 

The cell door was opened, and Patient Zero willfully walked inside, and the door shut quickly behind her. Mere moments after the door was shut, her handcuffs were unlocked. Not by the girl nor Loki's magic, but by a remote held by the SHIELD agent standing outside the door waiting for Thor.

Thor took one last look at his brother and the girl, before turning and walking back out of the room to sit around the table with the avengers, supervising the conversation through a camera instead of with his own eyes.

Loki cleared his throat slightly, and for a short second a hint of yellow magic scanned the cell, making it impossible for the avengers to see what was actually happening, instead, they would see an illusion of the two having a calm, meaningless conversation. the real conversation, however, would not exactly fit that description.

"What did they do to you?" Loki whispered quietly, staring at the girl in front of him, though not himself, his eyes looked far more normal than they had since he arrived on earth. they looked worried, distraught even.

Patient Zero met his gaze, looking into his light blue eyes with her dark, big ones. "Your mind..." she started, her voice was still raspy as it had been earlier. "It's so...open, yet so...messy." she looked down at her wrists, now free of handcuffs. she rubbed her wrists slightly. they were a little bit sore from the restrainment.

"Is that all you've got to respond with?" the god asked, standing up from his seat and taking a few steps closer to the girl, who backed slightly away from him. "Am I frightening you?" he asked, a genuine question.

She paused, before shaking her head. "Why did you wish to speak with me?" she asked, calmly, but not super quietly.

Loki let out a small laugh, sort of like a whimper. "You don't recognize me?" he asked, and she looked him up and down. "It's not personal. When they found me I had no memories at all." she explained, still as calmly as earlier.

"They've stripped you of everything." Loki whispered, pain in his voice even if it wasn't even his pain to bear, taking another step closer to her, this time she didn't move away. "I'm Loki." he introduced her, just as calmly as she had spoken. Patient Zero nodded, taking half a step towards him, there was only around a 6 feet distance now. "I'm Patient Zero."

Loki let out a small, pained gasp, "No, you're not." he looked at her as if he was amazed she could even believe such a thing. amazed and saddened at the same time. "You're Dahlia." he told her, it almost sounded like a beg. A beg for her to agree with him.

"That's one of the weirdest names I've ever heard." She commented, smiling slightly at him. She could sense his sadness, even if it wasn't hers. Another quirk to her telepathy, being able to feel others' emotions. She wanted to be who he claimed she was, but it didn't resonate with her. She didn't have any memory connected to any of it.

Loki slowly stepped closer to her, there was only around a foot's distance between them. She was looking up at him with her big eyes. Big, sad eyes, that had previously been emotionless, but now, they were feeling all the same feelings of the watery blue eyes in front of them.

"You've told me that before." he responded to her comment, very quietly. "That's why I never call you Dahlia." he offered his hand to her, and hesitantly, while staring down at it, she placed her hand in his. "To me, you're Dahl." he said, staring down at their hands.

"Will you let me help you remember?" he asked, very quietly, as if he was sure the answer was yes, but the weight of the feeling that it might not be yes, made it hard to ask aloud.

Patient Zero looked back up at him, before looking down at their hands. "If you're tricking me," she whispered, "I'll kill you."

Loki's eyes moved from his hand softly holding hers, to her eyes staring at him. His sadness faded for a moment, and a short snicker followed by a small, calm smile appeared. "Oh, I know."


	4. chapter 4.

Loki's smile was slightly contagious, and Patient Zero let a small, unsure smile rest on her face too. Loki slowly moved his free hand to her face, looking at her reassuringly. "This won't hurt." he assured her before resting his palm on her forehead. For a split moment, nothing happened, until Patient Zero felt like she was thrown back, back in time, reexperiencing a memory that she had somehow forgotten.

-

Patient Zero's memory, summer 1857

Patient Zero was sitting on a bench outside the school for teens of Asgard. She looked 13, now, though this was several centriues before she was ever located on Earth. she was rocking back on forth in her own seat, her feet bouncing up and down. Her hair only reached a little past her shoulders, and it was healthy looking. Her eyes had life in them, and she looked fairly happy.

she whistled loudly at another boy her age, clearly it was Loki, but also younger. "Hey, princess, I have a question." she yelled at him, even though he was in a conversation with other people, he still turned to her. When their eyes locked, and the girl smiled, he smiled back and left the people he was talking to.

He was wearing asgardian clothes, fancy ones, while she was wearing less fancy ones, cheaper, probably more used too.

"Could you not tell I was busy?" the young prince asked, though he seemed happy another person his age was even interracting with him specifically. "I could, but I wanted to talk to you, and I feel better bothering you when you're talking to your brother's friends than I do when you're peacefully reading alone, and I couldn't possibly show up at the castle just to ask you for help." the girl spoke, and Loki's smile grew larger, he was visibly intrigued by what she had just told him.

"Help with what exactly?" he asked, and she smiled sheepishly at him. "I'm struggling to learn and remember Asgardian history for the test next week, and I heard you're really good at such,"

"Really?" the prince asked, "I mean-yeah, I-I could help you out, just...don't call me 'princess' again." he responded like he did because no one had ever asked for his help because of his skills talking for themselves. he didn't know that at the time she could feel how proud he felt, he had yet to really learn who she was, but she didn't mind.

"What shall I call you then, your majesty?" the girl mocked, with a lighthearted tone. "Loki is fine." the god answered with a small smile, and a small....spark in his eye. "I'm Dahlia, but it's such a weird name. Call me Lia."

-

The second the younger version of herself finished the sentence, Lia was once again thrown, but this time to the present. She had instantly moved a little away from Loki, the god's hand no longer touching her head.

Loki was just looking at her, completely calm, the worried sadness had returned to Loki's eyes as he looked at her for her reaction. "I...I remember that-" Dahlia whispered, looking down at her hands, "How-How long ago was that?" she looked back up at Loki, her previously emotionless eyes seemed so much more alive already. 

"1857." he responded without hesitation, "On Asgard." he added, examining her expressions with his eyes. Dahlia nodded slightly as if she agreed with him on that. "Do it again." she said sternly, moving closer, back to where she was a moment ago, and grabbing the god's hand, placing it on her head again. "Show me another one," she looked up at him with her huge puppy like eyes, begging him with just her eyes. How could he possibly say no to that?

Loki cleared his throat before nodding subtly, and before Lia could utter another word, she was flung into yet another memory.

-

Dahlia Fredriksdottir's memory, 1862

"I shared so much of my ale with you and you're not gonna do anything in return?"

"I don't owe you anything, Bjørn, you offered it on your own accord, alright?" Lia mumbled, her speech was slurred from the amount of alcohol the young girl had consumed. She was the youngest person at the party, Bjørn was about 400 years older than her, making him closer to Thor's age than hers.. Lia didn't really have many friends, but people, or more specifically, boys, liked to invite her to things. Most of the time it was a sad attempt to get in her pants, but usually she didn't even care. Parties she actually went to, were crowded and pretty safe, unless you decided to drunkenly wrestle someone.

"You never owe any one anything at all, do you?" the boy asked, rolling his eyes in a visibly bothered manner. Lia could usually read most teenagers minds if she really tried, but alcohol made her powers much more draining and difficult to use. In that very moment, the most she could do was feel his emotions. It made her uncomfortable. She could feel his harsh annoyance and aggression.

She was sitting on a couch, asgardian design of course, which meant it was beautifully decorated with silk, and unnecessarily huge, her head was resting in Bjørn's lap. It was an uncomfortably close position now that his aura had changed, but previously it hadn't really been an issue. Lia was always fairly comfortable with being physically close with other people, even if she didn't know them, because she could sense their aura so much better when physically near them.

"You're a bitch, Dahl." Bjørn spat the words out as if her own shortened name was an insult of itself.

Lia stared up at him, "Do-Don't call me 'Dahl'." she mumbled, before moving to sit up. She didn't get to sit up, because Bjørn moved his arm and shoved her back down. "That's quite literally your name."

"It's Dahlia." She corrected him, staring at Dahl with aggression in her own eyes. "You're so dramatic." Bjørn muttered, still holding Dahlia down with his arm, she tried to move it but it didnt inch. "Let me go," Dahlia mumbled, her speech still slurred as she was, in fact, shitfaced.

"I poured your alcohol, the least you can do is accompany me for the rest of this party." he said in a completely unbothered tone, "We could, of course, go somewhere more private together."

"No. Le-Let me go or-"

"Or fucking what?" he rolled his eyes, and pulled Lia a bit closer to him, "You're gonna send your non existent older brother, or your dead parents?"

Lia paused for a moment, still glaring up at Bjørn, the alcohol was definitely making her take longer to even react to that sentence. instead of responding, she moved her head and bit Bjørn's arm as hard as she could, which in return made his arm move and the older boy yell out in pain.

Lia quickly but drunkely stood up, and the scene had barely started, because in only a short moment, Bjørn was up and slammed Lia's entire body into a fucking wall, standing against her, towering over her as she was pressed against the wall, pain shooting down her entire back.

The entire party had quickly quieted down and was staring at the scene. Lia was speechless, staring up at Bjørn and waiting for him to do something, say something, but he didn't. Instead, Loki did.

"Touch her again and you'll never forget it." Loki's voice spoke up from behind Bjørn, which in turn made him smile slightly and turn around. "As if you could possibly make a memorable inpact on my memory." he responded, glaring at Loki, even while smiling.

Loki took a deep breath, before sighing, and punching Bjørn square in the face. Bjørn grabbed a hold of Loki's collar and held him still with both hands, glaring into his eyes. Loki was tall for his age, which in turn made them about the same height.

Bjørn once more opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted yet again, this time by a much more intimidating voice. "I suggest you let my brother go."

Loki was quickly let go of, and Thor and Bjørn started having their conversation without the younger prince, because he had left, trying to figure out where the hell Dahlia had gone after he had gotten Bjørn to let her go.

He left the building the party had been taking place, finding Dahlia curled up in the staircase outside, shaking lightly and very, very quietly crying.

Loki silently made his way down the stairs until he was at the stair she had sat herself at, softly sitting down next to her. She didn't turn to him when he'd approached her, she could already tell it was him.

He was quietly sitting next to her, a few inches between them, his once again sad blue eyes very softly looking at her.

She turned to him after about 5 minutes of her own sniffs and quiet sobs. "I don't cry." she stated as if it was a fact. Loki let a small, sad but consoling smile appear on his face. "I know you don't."

"He called me 'Dahl'." Lia mumbled, meeting Loki's eyes hesitantly. "Oh?" the god responded, and Lia nodded slightly. "You're the only one that gets to call me Dahl," she added, very quietly but certainly loud enough for Loki to hear her. He nodded calmly, not quite knowing what to respond to that. "I know." he just agreed.

A few seconds passed of them just looking at each other before Dahlia let a small sob escape her, and then throwing her arms around Loki, burying her face in his chest as if she couldnt ever imagine he would stab her in the back. Loki sighed quietly as Dahlia wrapped herself around him, in turn putting his arms very lightly around her and patting the back of her head. He was not exactly sober himself, but he had drank only half of what Dahlia had consumed.


	5. chapter five.

When Lia was brought back this time, she didn't move away from Loki, but he still slowly moved his hand away from her head.

"Where have you been?" she asked, very, very quietly, as if she was unsure she wanted an answer.

"I was under the impression that you were dead." He explained almost as quietly as her, matching her energy. His eyes were avoiding hers, and as usual, Lia's eyes were searching for eye contact.

"I'm not dead." she forced out before abruptly wrapping her arms around Loki, hugging him tightly, tighter than she had in the memory, once again hiding her face in his chest.

Loki, obviously, wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head, closing his eyes.

"What's your plan?" Lia whispered into Loki's chest, "Why did you come here? Why now?

Loki sighed quietly, patting Dahlia's back softly, "That's a conversation for another time." he answered quietly, "I need you to be patient."

"Okay."

As much as Lia could read minds, Loki's was driving her insane every time she tried. The guy was able to put up a pshycic shield, preventing her from reading his mind, sure. But whenever he did that, if was like hearing static. This was nothing like static, it was like thoughts fighting each other, a mental storm happening. His mind was completely open for her to read, but she couldn't understand any of it. It was peculiar, she'd never experienced it before, but she was going to be patient...or at least try.

There was a pause for a moment. Dahlia was still hugging Loki, even with a bare minimum of memories, she seemed to trust him.

"But...how long do I have to wait?" she asked quietly in an unserious tone, and Loki let out a small snicker. "I will tell you, you have my word, but not here."

Dahlia finally moved away from Loki, glancing up at him. Dahlia wasn't short, but 5'7 next to 6'4 is still a lot. "Can you show me another memory?" she asked quietly, moving to hold his hand loosely again. "Dahl, I will show you everything, but I cannot do it this fast," he whispered, "Besides, we will soon have more urgent business." he added, looking out towards the cell. 

"What business exactly?" she asked him, looking to where his eyes were. Before Loki responded, the whole helicarrier shook, and Dahlia almost fell, but Loki caught her. "My men are here to get us out of here, then, an army is joining us, and the fight against my brother and his mortal friends will begin." he explained, all while looking at the same spot.

Dahlia paused before once again turning to her old friend. She could sense his emotions, as always, and she could tell something was off. He wasn't as calm as he seemed, in reality, he seemed worried. Upset. What was his reasoning for all of this?

-

Once Loki and Dahlia were let out of the cell by Loki's mindless followers, Loki had one of them quickly lead Dahlia to their getaway ship, while staying behind to trap his brother in the glass cage, to then drop him to the ground. after doing so, the god followed to also get into the getaway ship, sitting next to Dahlia in one of the seats.

He didn't speak after getting on, and Dahlia didn't either. she was just sitting there, looking tired but much less drugged. Loki noticed this, and looked her up and down a few times, but he still wound up not saying much.

After a while of being aflight, Loki turned to Dahlia. "Did they drug you?" he asked her quietly, even though his goons could definitely still hear him. Dahlia just nodded, as if she was too unbothered or too uncomfortable to even open her mouth and answer the question.

Loki's eyes lingered on her for a moment before he just nodded back. As he nodded, yellow magic quickly scanned over Dahlia, and her prison outfit was switched with a pretty asgardian warrior's outfit. It had leather pants, long sleeves that were also leather, black leather to be exact, with silver complimenting it in small strings, specifically around the waist. it also had a coat of sorts, extremely similar to Loki's outfit, except hers wasn't green, black and gold, but instead purple, black and silver. Her messy braids were switched out with four beautifully done cornrow braids, and her shoes were swapped with proper, asgardian style ones, matching her outfit.

Dahlia looked herself up and down, and quickly moved her hand to her head, feeling her braids, before looking up at Loki. Though still visibly tired, she smiled at him. A genuine, lighthearted, innocent smile.

"Thank you,"

Loki returned her smile for a moment, but didn't say anything, instead he moved his hands in some odd gesture, and out of literally thin air, a huge sword appeared. it was a beautiful sword, the patterns on it were glowing a tame blue, and the handle was as dark as Dahlia's leather outfit. He then handed it to her, and she took it, looking at him as if she was confused why he thought to hand her a weapon, especially after she had been held captive for 86 years for being 'too dangerous'.

"You're going to need it." Loki said quietly, before picking up his scepter.


	6. chapter six.

The very same day Loki had let himself and Lia out, the attack on New York happened.

Lia was let out on the ground, while Loki went about doing whatever the fuck his plans were. The last thing he'd said to her was 'Thor won't let them kill me, worry about yourself. Do not care for the chitauri.'

Dahlia did as she was told, or at least tried to. She had a specific thing she really wanted to do now that she was out of government custody anyway, which happened to be visiting Starbucks.

Dahlia had never had to run into the concept of racism before she came to earth. Race was a cruel thing humans had invented, and though she was Asgardian, to Humans, she was black. And being black in America during the 1920s wasn't a nice experience, especially when you were homeless, alone and in government confinement.

Dahlia still didn't know the point to all of Loki's doings, but she did know this: if there was anything she wanted to do in that moment, it was beat the shit out of Captain America.

She had had run ins with him during the 40s, him and his stupid, nationalist face and american flag. What better way to get his attention than kill racists?

She walked into the starbucks as if everything was completely normal, before shutting and breaking the door so no average human would be able to open it. She then looked around at the people staring at her.

The cashier gave her a weird look, "Ma'am, you can't just do that-"  
"I just did." Dahlia responded calmly, walking up to the cashier. Someone started trying to reopen the door, but it didn't work.

"Make me your best coffee." Dahlia instructed. The huge sword Loki had handed her was still in her hand.  
"Is this some sick cosplay?" the cashier asked, and although Dahlia had no clue what that word meant, she shook her head.

"Make the coffee." she repeated, before turning to the closest white person in the store, who happened to be a young woman. Looking into the woman's eyes, Dahlia smiled slightly at her. "Obama, right?" Dahlia asked, before letting out a forced, fake laughter. "What a fucking communist!"

Dahlia had had very restricted access to media while in protective care, but the one thing she was allowed, was american history and politics. Obama was running for president, and she knew the easiest way to fish out a racist would be bringing him up. It wasn't like they could lie to Lia anyway, she could easily read the average persons thoughts.

"Right?" she asked, still looking into the girls eyes. "Who are you voting for?" As Dahlia asked, she focused on the girls thoughts, and she could tell she was racist. she didnt even need a moment before her thoughts went on about how black people shouldn't be presidents, and how she wished all white cafes were still real so Dahlia couldn't even walk in.

The girl opened her mouth to speak, but Dahlia shushed her. "I'll let you in on a secret," she whispered into the girl's ear, before moving her sword slightly, "I can hear your thoughts." Dahlia added, before moving slightly away from the girl, and quickly but gracefully stabbing her in the heart with her sword. The girl's eyes were wide and desperate, but she couldn't get words out, the only thing coming out of her mouth, was blood. Deep red blood, dripping down onto her ugly top.

Dahlia pulled the sword out. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss." she then said to the girl sitting on the other side of the person Lia had just murdered. "But the world is better off."

Dahlia turned to everyone else, before pointing a finger at every black person, "Go over there," she pointed at the entrance. there were a total of 5 black people in the cafe, and they all hesitantly made their way over to where she'd pointed.

Dahlia sighed as she stared at everyone else in the store, they were all silently staring at her, a few of them were shakily filming. The barista had finished Lia's drink, so she pointed the sword at the barista. Before she got to speak, someone had pointed a gun at Dahlia's head and fired.

Dahlia barely winched at the shot, before turning to the shooter. They met eyes, and the person holding the gun looked like they instantly regretted it, but still fired several more shots at Dahlia, one of them missed and hit another customer in the neck.

Dahlia calmly walked towards the person shooting at her, the bullet's not even scratching her skin. Asgardians are bulletproof, after all.

"Captain America would

've loved you." Dahlia said before cutting the head of the shooter.

Several of the other hostages let out a scream at the sight of the man's head sliding off his neck.

"Stay calm," Dahlia said in a slightly annoyed tone, quietly walking over to grab her coffee, sitting on the counter. After picking the coffee up, she sat herself down on the counter, taking a long, calm sip.

"This is what you humans are obsessed with? Really?" she asked, as if this was a completely normal and lighthearted conversation. When no one answered, she sighed and made eye contact with a new potential kill.  
"Be honest," she said, standing up and putting the coffee back down. "Do you think their lives are less worthy than yours?" the asgardian pointed at the group of black people, and because of her abilities, she already knew the answer was yes, and in one swift motion, another person was dead.

Dahlia wiped the blood off her sword in a calm manner, before the door burst open, Captain America in the doorframe, with his ugly outfit and stupid little shield.

"Patient Zero, stop this-"  
"That's not my name." Dahlia sternly shut down, glaring daggers at Steve, who motioned for everyone in the store to run out, which they did. in a few seconds, everyone besides the dead bodies had left the cafe.

"Why are you helping Loki?" Cap asked as he closed the door behind the last civilian.  
"I'm not helping Loki," Dahlia stated, before going back to her coffee, and taking another sip. "He helped me. I'm helping America."  
"Pardon?"  
"Loki helped me."  
"He helped you kill three people."  
"I did that myself."  
"You're under his mind control, it's okay, me and the others can he-"

"I don't want your help, Steve Rogers." Dahlia muttered, putting the coffee down and switching to a fighting stance. "I want to fight you."

"Patient Zero, I'm not fi-"

"That's not my name!" Dahlia yelled at him, before swinging her sword at him aggressively, but Steve moved his shield, so instead of hitting him, it clung into the shield. She moved again, and swung at him, but he jumped away, and jumped up to stand on top of a table.

"Last time we talked, you didn't have a name." Steve said as calmly as possible.  
"A lot has happened since the last time we talked." She growled before grabbing ahold of the table Steve was standing on, and flipping it with just one hand. It didn't hurt Steve, who had jumped onto the next table by the time Dahlia had flipped it.

"You know my name, it's only fair I know yours-" Steve said, sounding slightly out of breath but still trying to deescalate the situation.

"My name will be the last words you hear before I end you." Dahlia stated before picking up a chair and throwing it at Steve, who again hid behind his shield, and the chair broke on impact.

"You don't have to do this." Steve pleaded, but Dahlia rolled her eyes. "But I want to."

"Look, I know mistakes were made, but this isn't going to fix it."

"I'm not trying to fix it." Dahlia stated as she picked up the gun from the person she had killed earlier, pointing it at Steve and shooting aimlessly. "I just want to see you dead."

"I thought you were an empath," Steve said after dodging the bullets, hiding behind the counter now. "What happened to that? Look at these people you killed! Don't you feel for them?"

"I don't feel for racists."

Steve paused before speaking up, "I get that, of course I get that, I fought naz-"

"No, you don't get it, Steve."

Steve paused again, still hiding behind the counter. "You're right."

"If you got it, you wouldn't have left me, in the brutal care of the government, in the fucking forties!" she shouted, before walking around the counter, and once again shooting at Steve, until the bullets ran out.

When the bullets ran out, Steve threw his shield at her, hitting her in the head, before grabbing the shield again, and using it to push her into the wall. She dented the wall, weighing at least three times what she wouldve weighed if she was human.

She'd dropped her sword on impact, and pushed Steve off her, but he quickly punted his shield into her head three more times, which effectively knocked the girl unconsious.

Usually it would take much more to knock out an asgardian, but Dahlia was exhausted from being drugged, barely physically active for 86 years and she was still a teenager.


	7. chapter seven.

When Dahlia woke up, she was being carried like a ragdoll across someone's shoulder.

Her head hurt, and her hands were once again restrained by handcuffs.

She was trying to figure out her surroundings, moving her head to look up, only to see Loki, also in handcuffs, with some weird muzzle on his face, like a dog. At least it matched his aesthetic.

He looked at her as if he was completely unbothered.

she let out a small groan before trying to push herself off whoever she was being carried by.

"Oh, she's awake-" Tony said, and in a matter of moments she was put down onto her own two feet. She'd been carried by Thor, previously, who smiled like a dumb golden retriver at her after putting her down. "Patient Zero, w-" Thor spoke, but was interrupted. "That's not my name."

The group had stopped walking for a moment.

"You told me it was your name earlier, don't you recall?" Thor asked with a slightly nervous laugh, looking at the others. Steve just shook his head. Thor was the only one smiling.

"It's not."

Thor let out an awkward chuckle, before nodding. "My apologies, my lady," he nodded uncomfortably.

"We're going to eat shawarma," Tony informed Dahlia before the group started walking again, and Dahlia just automatically followed, limping a little. "You can have some, if you'd like." Steve added, looking directly at Dahlia. This rule very obviously did not apply to Loki.

Dahlia didn't say anything for a little while, instead she silently followed the group, and eventually as they got to the eating destination. Everyone got a seat at a table, while Thor grabbed Loki by the arm and sat him in a corner, on the floor, before placing Mjølnir in his brother's lap, so he couldn't leave.

Then, Thor grabbed a chair, put it next to Loki, and nodded for Dahlia to sit down. She stared at Thor for a moment as if she was processing what he wanted her to do, before sitting down on the chair.

Dahlia didn't speak for most of the stay, instead, she was just observing the others. She wasn't even reading their minds, she was tired and fairly certain she was heading towards the same confinement she had been in earlier the same day. As much as it terrified her, she was too tired to resist it at the moment.

Steve came up to her after they'd recieved the food they ordered, and offered her a plate. She silently took it, not meeting Steve's eyes. Not because she was remorseful, but because just looking at them made her feel horrid, bad emotions. They weren't his emotions, they were hers. The emotions she felt when thinking of the 40s, when thinking of Steve.

Dahlia actually finished the food she had been given fairly quickly, it was something she'd never had before, and she usually didnt even get full meals like this, at least not while drugged. After finishing, she just put the plate on the floor, before moving herself to the floor, next to Loki.

She sat directly next to him, hips and legs touching. Loki turned to look down at her, and Dahlia looked up at him, both in silence, though Loki's silence wasn't necessarily a choice.

"Hey, what are you doing, leave her alon-" Steve spoke up, getting up from his chair, but Dahlia moved to glare slightly at him. "He's not making me do anything." she responded, sternly and clearly defensively.

Steve paused, looking at the two. Loki turned to also look at Steve, one eyebrow raised as if he was waiting for him to do something.

"Loki cannot control people without the sceptre," Thor told Steve as the american hesitantly sat back down on his chair, Thor was also now staring at the two younger asgardians, but chose not to say anything else. He could not remember ever meeting Dahlia before coming to earth, and found it odd that she was that physically close to his brother, he had never seen Loki that close with anyone except for his family.

Dahlia rolled her eyes dramatically at Steve specifically, before looking at Loki again. He met her eyes once more, and she actually focused on reading his thoughts for a moment. Dahlia had the ability to give people intrusive thoughts, which made it possible to communicate without speaking, especially if the person knew she was the one placing the thoughts there. It wasn't easy for her, but she decided it was worth it.

'You lost.'  
'I know  
'You did it purposely, didn't you?'  
'I did.'  
'Why?'  
'That's a conversation for another time.'  
'What will they do with us?'  
'They're going to imprison me.'  
'What of me then?'  
'I don't know, but whatever it may be will be better than what you've been through on Earth.'  
'How do you know what I've been through?'  
'I've seen it, parts of it, they have it recorded and saved in their machines.'

Dahlia stopped after Loki said that, her heart skipped a beat. He'd seen that? Her sobbing, her being prodded and poked? Her being drugged down, constantly? Tortured and questioned?

She closed her eyes, reliving it for a split moment, a moment she wished hadn't happened. When she opened them again, they were teary, and she wasn't meeting Loki's eyes, instead she rested her forehead on his shoulder, and let a few tears silently run down her face.

Loki moved his hand, putting it on Dahlia's head and petting it lightly. His handcuffs had long chains inbetween them, and Dahlia moved, grabbing Loki's closest arm and pulling it over her so she was trapped in between his arms, then hugging him, her face buried in his collarbones. She was still sitting next to him while doing this, so it looked like quite the uncomfortable position, especially with Mjølnir inbetween them, but Dahlia didn't seem the care.

Loki kept one arm around Dahl's upper body, while still soothingly stroking her head with the other.

"Are they dating?" Tony asked, which again turned the attention of the avengers to the two prisoners. Dahlia was still crying, though very quietly, and Loki was just glaring at the Avengers.

"Not that I-" Thor started, but stopped talking when he saw how Dahlia and Loki were sitting. He didn't say anything, instead he cleared his throat and continued eating.


	8. chapter eight.

"Alright, time to leave," Clint said as after the avengers had finished eating, and he clapped his hands to get Dahlia to move away from Loki and get up. She didn't get the memo. She wasn't even looking at them. She still had her face buried in Loki's clothing.

Thor walked over and picked up Mjølnir from Loki's lap, before gesturing for his brother to get up. Loki looked down at Dahlia before removing the arm that was around her, releasing her from being trapped between his arms, which made her look around and realize what was happening. Loki softly wiped away one of the tears still on her face, before Thor grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet. Dahlia got up on her own accord.

"Where are we taking Pat-" Steve cut himself off, "Her." he corrected himself, while nodding at Dahlia.

Thor shrugged, and Loki furrowed his eyebrows, unable to say anything while wearing his muzzle. 

"I'm Asgardian." Dahlia stated flatly, as if she didn't even expect anyone to hear what she'd just stated. "Really?" Steve asked, and Tony rolled his eyes, leaving the room before everyone else.

Thor looked at Loki, who nodded subtly in agreement. Thor then looked at Dahlia, and cleared his throat, "Alright, I suppose you will have to answer to Odin, along with Loki."

-

"Dahlia Fredriksdottir." Odin spoke to the young girl in front of him, covered in chains, one around her neck, linked to the handcuffs around her wrists, linked to the chain around her waist. The chain around her waist was linked to three more chains, two of which were being held by Asgardian guards, and one of his lead down to the chains around her ankles. It was an unnecessary set up for such a young person, but Loki in turn was in the exact same one.

Loki had spoken to Odin before Dahlia. The two of them had been seperated almost immediately when reaching Asgard.

"The crimes you have committed are foul." Odin stated, and Dahlia didn't respond. "You were presumed dead when you disappeared, yet here you stand, an accompliace in Loki's crimes."

Dahlia looked at the guards around her. "What do you have to say for yourself?"  
"I was doing the humans a favour." Dahlia responded aggressively, moving her gaze to glare at Odin.

"What twisted ideas made you believe killing civilians is doing anyone a favour?" Odin asked, returning Dahlia's aggressive tone.

"Humans have foul ideals. They believe themselves better than each other based on the pigment in their skin. Humans kill each other over how dark their skin is compared to the rest. They hate each other over it." Dahlia spat each word out as if it were poison. "Killing a few racists did nothing but help them out. If I could, I would seek out every last one of them and make sure they never got to take another breath."

Odin stared Dahlia dead in the eyes, before rolling his eyes. Dahlia gasped slightly at his response, offended.

"Based on the fact that you have shown no remorse for your actions, you will serve time in our prisons until I've decided you should be let go." He stated, before gesturing for the guards to take her away.

"You mean until you're dead!" Dahlia shouted, but Odin didn't even bother responding, he just watched as the guards pulled her away, while she was unwillingly complying.

-

Dahlia was placed in a cell close to Loki's, and they could see each other, but not touch nor really speak. Loki's cell was much more furnished than any other cell, Dahlia's really only had a small bed in it.

Loki stared at Dahlia when she first arrived. The girl looked around the empty room before sitting herself in the middle of it, on the floor, not even looking at Loki though she knew he was within eyesight. She stayed in that spot for the rest of the day. Loki, unable to speak to her, eventually stopped staring, and laid down on his bed.

When he woke up the next day, Dahlia was still in the same position.

He moved the chair in his room to the clear wall closest to Dahlia, and tried to get her to look at him, look up from the floor, but she didn't. He tried to speak to her, but she couldn't hear him. The guards told him to be quiet once he raised his voice in a last attempt to get Dahlia to look at him. He figured her powers couldn't work outside of the cell, so she couldn't communicate telepathically either.

Loki rolled his eyes at the guards telling him to shut up, and grabbed one of the books in his cell, reading it while still sitting in the chair placed closest to Dahlia.

Dahlia didn't move from the floor the entire rest of that day either, it felt torturing to Loki, he wasn't even entirely sure if it was Dahlia, or if it was just some stupid illusion to bother him. Unfortunately it was actually Dahlia.

A week went past without Dahlia moving much. She stayed on the floor for the most part, every now and then she swifted to laying on her back and staring at the ceiling, or she would just be curled up, but never once, at least to Loki's notice, had she looked at him.

On the seventh day, the first week of their stay in the dungeouns, Dahlia had walked up to one of the clear prison walls, and touched it. It stung, painfully, and she retracted her hand fairly quickly, and then just stood there, as close as possible to the wall, staring at it for a few minutes, before once again sitting down on the floor.

When Loki had recieved new books, he had requested they be sent to Dahlia's room instead. It took some convincing, but the books arrived in Dahlia's room. She didn't seem to care, however. she never once touched the books.

Dahlia was driving herself insane, completely in defeat, and watching her made Loki drive himself insane too. Loki seemed to be doing much better than he had been doing when he arrived on earth. He already looked healthier, and his brain was much better now that it was no longer under mind control, and most certainly far away from the creatures that had been torturing him for the last year. For Dahlia, however, being stuck in this cell was almost like reliving the last years, and she had been locked up for so much longer than a year. It was practically impossible for Loki to relate.

After 16 days, Dahlia's head finally stopped hanging, and she let out a scream, out of nowhere. A loud, gutwrenching scream. She kept it going until she phsyically couldnt anymore, but then it was followed by another one, and another one. Her voice was almost gone but she kept going. She was gripping at head, continiously screaming. It caught the attention of the entire prison. Loki walked up as close as possible to Dahlia, looking at the guards and waving for them to check up on her.

Dahlia's screams turned into sobs, and she slammed her fist into the wall, repeatedly. It hurt, a lot, but she kept going anyway. The guards just stood outside of her cell, staring at her as if they had shit for brains.

"Do something!" Loki commanded them, but the guards just shushed Dahlia, who had by then already lost her voice either way. She slowly sat down on her knees in front of the wall, knocking her head into it while still sobbing. Her hair was covering her face, and Loki was still watching her. "She's hurting herself." Loki yelled at the guards, but they all started walking back to where they'd previously been standing.

Dahlia stayed like this for at least 30 minutes, Loki was sitting as close as he could without touching the wall, also on the floor, trying to talk to her. Things like 'Dahl, please listen to me-' and 'Dahlia, look at me-'

He stayed begging her for the entire duration, until she eventually stopped, falling back and laying on her back. She was looking at the ceiling, and her hair was laying around her, spread out on the floor. Tears were still actively running down her face, and she wrapped her arms around herself.

Loki didn't move from his position, still looking at Dahlia. "Dahl, look at me, please,"

Dahlia was shaking, a lot actually, but there was barely any sound coming out of her anymore, she had screamed it all out. She finally turned her head, looking at Loki while still laying on her back, her head still against the floor.

"You're going to be okay." Loki tried to convince her, and maybe even himself. Dahlia opened her mouth to respond, but only a sob came out. She shook her head, before turning her eyes back to the ceiling.

Loki didn't sleep that night. He stayed in the same spot, waiting for Dahlia to do anything to assure him he could sleep without worry. When it was almost morning, Dahlia shakily got up from the floor, got onto the bed, pulled the covers over her entire body, and stayed there.


	9. chapter nine.

"Is she eating?" Loki asked, staring out from his cell and into Dahlia's. His mother was 'visiting' him, which really just meant she was using her illusions to see him. It was the only way she was allowed to talk to Loki, and though Loki was still angry with his parents for lying to him his entire life, he loved his mother, and appreciated her taking the time to 'see' him.

"I don't know," Frigga answered honestly, with a small, sad sigh. "I do not know much about her at all, I only speak with you, Loki."

"I haven't seen her eat a single time since she got here." Loki stated, as if Frigga hadn't already responded. "How long have we been here now?"

"Two months." Frigga said matter of fact-ly.  
"Are they not feeding her?" Loki finally turned to look at his mother. They were certainly feeding him, so there was no reason to not feed Dahlia.  
"Of course they are."

"So she's starving herself." Loki concluded, glaring slightly at his mother. She shrugged calmly, "I wouldn't know."

"How long is she to stay here?" He asked, turning back to look at Dahlia.

She was sitting on the floor again, head hanging down. He could see she was breathing, which was calming. She would spend days under the covers in her bed, and then in turn spend days on the floor. It was odd. She hadn't had another outburst yet, but Loki was sure that was a matter of time. He couldn't exactly blame her, he probably would've had outbursts if he was in her shoes.

"I don't know, it's all up to your father." Frigga stated, which made Loki snap at her, almost fuming. "He's not my father!" he shouted at her, eyes glaring at the woman he once reognized as family.

"Then am I not your mother?" Frigga asked, which made Loki hesitate. He knew she was, she always had been, but that didn't change how he was feeling.

"You're not." Loki eventually answered, as if he had forced the words out of his mouth based on pure stubbornness, and Frigga flashed a small, hurt smile.

"Always so perceptive about everyone but yourself." Frigga responded calmly, and extended her hands at him.

Loki seemed much calmer already, and looked down at her hands. He moved to hold them, as if they were there, but was forced to see reality, and see that they weren't really there, when his own hands went right through them, exposing the illusion.

Frigga slowly disappeared, leaving Loki alone in his cell, with nothing to do but wallow in guilt, pain, trauma and worry.

-

The very same day Loki had shouted at his mother, a prison break occurred in the dungeons. Almost every prisoner was let out, many of them killed by Dark Elves, and some were killed by Thor, Sif and the warriors three. The dark elves however, did not touch Loki's nor Dahlia's cell.

Dahlia stayed curled up in her cell during the entire prison break, almost as if she didn't even notice it happening around herself, even though she certainly could hear it.

Loki sat at the corner of his cell, reading while the prison break happened, unbothered and unthreatened.

That very same day, Loki was visited by asgardian guards, informing him of his mother passing away, murdered by the dark elves during their infiltration.

Loki had nodded to dismiss the guards, before taking a short breath, and clenching his fists, sending all of his furniture into the walls with his magic. He didn't stop there, however, he kept ruining whatever was in his cell for a bit longer than that.

This, somehow, made Dahlia look at him. Somehow, she had picked up on his emotions through the cell walls, due to them being so strong.

She looked at him, she looked exhausted, sickly, almost dead, but her eyes weren't emotionless. They mirrored the same hurt and sadness Loki's eyes were currently displaying.

She watched him go about ruining his cell, and trashing everything, all of it, up until he calmed down, sitting up against one of the solid walls, and curling up, seemingly crying.

Dahlia didn't say anything, because she knew it wouldn't matter. She had also been informed that the queen was dead, and as much as she wanted to be there for Loki, there was no possible way for her to do so while locked in a different cell.

Dahlia watched Loki for a while, until she fell asleep, still sitting on the floor.

The next night, Thor came by, while Dahlia was still awake. He offered Loki a deal, he got to join Thor in getting revenge for his mother, and then got to go back to his cell.

Loki agreed, but Dahlia didn't hear the conversation, all she saw was Loki getting out of his cell with the help of his brother.

"Before we go-" Loki paused once he'd gotten out of his cell, "Will you let me speak with her?" he asked, looking at Dahlia, who was staring back at him, silently. She had moved to the bed, and was sitting there with the cover wrapped around herself like a big hug.

"No." Thor stated sternly, "Come on-" he added, rushing his younger brother to statt moving.  
"Thor, please."   
"You are not in a position to demand anything from me, Loki."  
"She hasn't eaten since she got here."

This made Thor pause, looking at Dahlia aswell now. "Why not?"  
"I believe she's trying to starve herself." Loki said quietly, as if he didn't even want to admit the words coming out of his mouth, still looking at Dahlia while talking to Thor.

"Why would she do that?" Thor asked, unconvinced.  
"Wouldn't you?" Loki asked, just as quietly as previously, "86 years, Thor." he added, now turning to his brother. "86 years, for absolutely no reason."

Thor cleared his throat, meeting his little brother's eyes. As much as Thor believed Loki had done horrible crimes, he was still his little brother, and Thor still felt for Dahlia, as he had since he first learned about her on earth.

"I will speak to her when we return." Thor concluded, before nodding for them to leave.

"Two minutes," Loki begged, still looking at his brother. "Please."

-

"They're letting you out?" Dahlia asked quietly, not moving from her spot on the bed. Loki wasn't in her cell, but an illusion of him was. Thor was watching the entire conversation.

"No." Loki's illusion of himself stated, "I will return as soon as I've avenged mother,"

"Will they ever let you out?" Dahlia asked, looking at the illusion. She knew it wasn't really Loki, but it didn't matter. It was the first proper social interaction she had had since the day of the New York attack.

"No."  
"Then what of me?"  
"You're not staying here forever, Dahlia."  
"How do you know?"  
"Trust me."  
"Another conversation for another time?" Dahlia asked, even quieter than she had previously been speaking.  
"Unfortunately."  
"I'm not a very patient person."  
"I know."  
"I can't take being in here." Dahlia replied, her voice breaking in the middle of the sentence, her head once again hanging down.  
"I know."

There was silence for a moment, before Loki spoke up. "Please eat."  
"I'm not hungry."  
"You can't lie to the god of lies."  
"I just did."

Another pause.  
"If you eat, just once, I promise, the next time we speak, I am bringing you a gift you will absolutely adore." Loki said quietly, his illusion kneeling down in front of Dahlia's bed to be at her eyelevel.  
Dahlia met the illusions eyes, before moving her hand, the hand going through the illusion.

Loki's illusion frowned slightly, before flashing a short, small smile. "I have to go."  
"I know."  
"I'll be back."  
"I know."


	10. chapter ten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if youre actually enjoying this fic im begging you to leave a comment to keep me interested in writing

Dahlia stayed in her cell for around 24 hours, Loki nowhere in sight.

Dahlia didn't sleep for the entire period he was gone, granted she didn't eat either. She sat there, disassociating for the most part, waiting for Loki to show back up in his cell. He never did.

After a little over 36 hours, Asgardian guards approached Dahlia's cell, before turning off the seethrough walls, to let her out.

"The king ordered to speak with you."

Dahlia didn't respond at first, she just looked at them with empty eyes.

"Come on, they're letting you out." The guard added. Dahlia hesitated, but stood up, and walked out of her cell, before being escorted by the guards into the same room she'd been in when Odin sentenced her. He was there, sitting on his throne.

Once Dahlia stood in front of him, he ordered the guards to leave them alone. They all left the room, leaving Dahlia and Odin all alone.

"Have you brought me here to kill me?" Dahlia asked, mockingly but at the same time very flat.

"Of course not." Odin stated, before standing up from his throne, and walking down to Dahlia. As he was walking, green shimmery magic embrazed his silhouette, and he revealed himself to be Loki, not actually Odin.

Dahlia's eyes widened, and she looked at him with a taken aback expression. "Loki, wha-"  
"Shh-" Loki shushed her slightly, before flashing a small smile. "There's a slight chance I faked my death." he said with a mischievous smile on his stupid face.

"You what?"  
"I'm supposed to be dead."  
"Explain."

Loki sighed, and ran a hand through his hair very quickly, "I died, in front of Thor's eyes, and then I exiled Odin. It wasn't particularly hard, Heimdall was already out of the way for betraying Odin to help Thor."

"You 'died' in front of Thor?" Dahlia repeated.  
"Mhm."  
"Pardon?"

Loki laughed slightly at her. "It doesn't matter." he reached for her hand, and she didn't move, so he held it very loosely. "Don't you get it? I'm Odin now. He's stuck on Midgard, you can stay here, at the castle with me. We can do whatever we want! I'm king."

"I thought you didn't want to be king." Dahlia stated, tightening the grip Loki had on her hand.

Loki sighed slightly, "I've done many things I didn't want to do, this is by far, the best one."

Dahlia nodded slightly, and Loki flashed a short smile at her. "Now, will you please eat?"

Dahlia nodded slightly.

-

"You missed my funeral," Loki told Dahlia calmly, they were eating alone in one of the castle's dining halls. There was an unnecessarily large amount of food available, Dahlia had barely touched any of it yet. The dining hall was huge, but Dahlia had refused to eat with anyone but Loki there. The thing was, if anyone but Dahlia were to be in his presence, he would shapeshift into Odin, and Dahlia couldn't stand it.

She'd never been a huge fan of Odin. Loki hadn't either. It was a shared feeling, and he understood her issue with it. He would be uncomfortable if his best friend walked around looking like her father too.

"How was it?" Dahlia asked out of curiosity, Loki just shrugged. "I wasn't there."  
"Really?" Dahlia asked, a little surprised with a small laugh. "That was unexpected. Odin didn't attend his sons funeral?"  
"I'm.... not his son, Dahlia."

Dahlia paused, looking into Loki's eyes. "What do you mean?"  
"I was... adopted." he cleared his throat awkwardly, drinking some of the wine in front of him.  
"Adopted?" Dahlia repeated.  
"Mhm."  
"How do you know?"   
"I'm Jotun." Loki forced the words out, not currently even looking at Dahlia.

"You're a frost giant?"  
"Mhm."  
"How did you not know?" Dahlia was looking at him, trying to make eyecontact, but Loki wasn't meeting her gaze. This was visibly a sore subject to him.

"Odin concealed the truth from me. I figured it out on my own." Loki explained very vaguely, Dahlia still had a ton of questions.  
"When did you-"  
"About a year before New York." Loki answered, and then cleared his throat, drinking more of the wine.

"Does he know that you know?" Dahlia asked, and Loki scoffed a little at the question. "I confronted him and it pushed him into Odin-Sleep."  
"Oh."

Dahlia nodded slightly and took a small sip of the wine she had placed in front of her. "Does Thor know?"  
"Everyone knows."  
"...Why aren't you...you know...blue?"

This made Loki actually look into Dahlia's eyes. She could feel his hurt just by meeting them. This was, most certainly, one of the most sensitive topics she had ever heard him speak of.

"I'm not showing you my Jotun form."  
"I didn't ask you to."  
"Well, I'm not."  
"That's okay."  
"Good."

The room fell silent for a moment.  
"I'm sorry for your loss." Dahlia said after a little silence. She was thinking of his mother, or, well, Frigga.

"We are mourning me." Loki stated, "Not...mother." he moved his gaze back down to his food.

"How is Thor taking your...'death'?" Dahlia asked, trying to keep the conversation going. She was still tired, and though she hadn't eaten in forever, the food made her feel slightly nauseous.

"He's mourned me once before, he'll be fine." Loki shrugged.  
"He's mourned you before?" Dahlia repeated, putting her glass down. "How much did I miss?"

"A lot." Loki looked up at her, and flashed a slightly amused smile. "It's great to have you back, though."

"Are you not going to explain to me why you have died twice?"

"To be fair, I didn't mean to fake it the first time."  
"Pardon?"  
"It's a long story."  
"I have time."

Loki laughed slightly, before shaking his head. "I will explain it...tomorrow."

Dahlia rolled her eyes. "This should be deemed illegal."

"Nothing I do is illegal," Loki laughed again, "I'm the king now, remember?"

Dahlia rolled her eyes at Loki before picking up a grape from the table and throwing it at his face.

"Hey!"

She then threw another one, followed by another one. Loki put his arms up in front of his face to defend himself. "This is not a fair fight, Dahl-"

"Throw one back, coward!" Dahlia mocked, before just tossing the whole bowl in his direction.

"We are not having a food fight!" Loki stated, before turning invisible.

"Hey-!" Dahlia yelled, a laughter quickly following her exclamation.

"I am not having any sort of physical fight with you until I know I won't accidentally break you in two." Loki stated, now standing next to Dahlia, no longer invisible, offering a hand to her. "I take it youre done eating." He stated, but it was more like a question.

She just nodded, and took his hand, in turn he helped her stand up.

"I'll show you to your room." Loki said, and walked Dahlia out of the dining hall.

They walked through the castle until they got to Loki's bedroom. He opened the door to her, showing the huge bed with green and gold decor, the big closet in the corner, the big window with the small balcony, the unnecessarily large mirror and the big bookshelf.

"You'll be sleeping here," 'Odin' said, "It used to be my room," he added, very, very quietly, so only Dahlia would hear.

Dahlia nodded, turning to look at Odin for a split second. "God, it is uncomfortable speaking to you like this."

'Odin' flashed a quick, entertained smile, before pointing at his own bedroom door. "I'll be sleeping in there, if you need anything." he told her, before patting her shoulder and walking towards his bedroom.

Dahlia walked into Loki's bedroom, which from now on was...hers? It was a bit absurd. She closed the door behind her, and looked a bit around, before hesitantly sitting down on the bed.

She was certainly tired enough to sleep, but she couldn't. Even after changing to sleepwear and getting under the covers, she could not sleep. Perhaps it was because of so much happening, but it was more likely because she just despised being alone now.

She stayed there trying to sleep for several hours before getting up from the bed, and leaving the bedroom, walking down to the king bedroom. It had guards waiting outside it, but they had been told to let specifically Dahlia go wherever she wanted, so they silently stepped aside when she went to open the door.

Loki was in the bed, sleeping, no longer looking like Odin. He woke up when Dahlia closed the door behind him, looking at her before sitting up, looking all tired and confused.

"What's wrong?" he asked, rubbing his eyes slightly.  
"I can't sleep in there."  
"...Wou-Would you like another room?"  
"I can't sleep alone."  
"Oh."  
"I can't stand it."

Loki paused, before nodding, "I understand." he yawned, looking around for a moment. "Would you prefer to sleep in here?"

Dahlia nodded, "Yeah."

Loki nodded before laying back down, "That's fine."  
"Am I being weird?" Dahlia asked, approaching the bed and sitting down on the edge of it, opposite side of where Loki was laying. The bed was huge enough to fit four people the size of Thor, there would be no issue to have both Loki and Dahlia sleeping in the same bed without even being close to touching each other.

Dahlia had often had issues with personal boundaries and personal space in social settings. As someone who could read your mind probably didn't have a good grasp at privacy, and as an empath, she had a tendency to stand unnecessarily close to people during conversations, because it made it easier for her to feel their aura.

"You're not being weird, Dahl," Loki mumbled halfway into the pillow his head was resting on, his eyes were only halfway open. "You can sleep in here, I don't mind. You're my friend."

Dahlia nodded slightly, but was still just sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Dahl?" Loki asked, looking at her just sitting there. She didn't respond at first, so he picked up one of the pillows and lightly tossed it at her.  
She looked over at him, before throwing the pillow at his face, which made him laugh, but he didn't throw it back.

"Go to bed," Loki told her, and she finally laid down on the bed, but she was staring at Loki, even though they were on opposite sides of the bed.

Loki, even when half asleep, noticed her staring, and looked over at her. "What?" he asked, the sleepyneas evident in his voice.

"Could you give me another memory back?" Dahlia asked quietly, and Loki furrowed his brows a bit.  
"Right now?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Why?"

Dahlia turned her head to look at the ceiling. "I have two days of memories from being free," she said quietly, "yet I have 86 years of memories in captivity."

Loki sat up again, ran a hand through his hair. "You're right," he mumbled, "Sorry," he added, moving closer to Dahlia on the bed. Dahlia sat up aswell.

Dahlia looked up at him, and he shook his head a little, trying to wake himself up. "Tomorrow, I'll search for some way to get all your memories back, without needing me and you to relive them together," Loki promised, very quietly.

Dahlia nodded, before grabbing a hold of Loki's hand and placing it on her head. "Just, show me anything, anything at all."


	11. chapter eleven.

Dahlia Fredriksdottir's memory, winter 1867

"Let me try again," Loki told Dahlia, speaking while simultaneously looking at the book in front of him. The book was something Dahlia's parents had left her before they had passed away. Dahlia never knew her parents, they'd died when she was far too young to remember, which led her to be in the care of her uncle.

"Loki, it says right here only certain people have the abilities to ever manage to do any of this," Dahlia let out a small laugh, watching him reread the words her parents had written out for them. Dahlia's parents were known as Asgard's greatest telepaths.

Dahlia hadn't shown the book to anyone besides Loki. She had been instructed to keep it to herself, but over the years Dahlia had grown an intensely strong trust to Loki. She wasn't sure if the feeling was mutual, but purely based on the aura she constantly felt around him, she was fairly certain he did.

"Are you trying to tell me it won't work?" Loki asked, sighing, almost in defeat. He was trying to figure out how to do the telepathic spell of reliving people's memories. The exact one he was using currently to show her this memory.

"I think you can do it," Dahlia said with a small smile, "But you're too impatient."

"I am patient!" Loki exclaimed, letting out an overdramatic groan.

"No, you're not." Dahlia laughed.

"Can't you just...telepathically teach me how to do it?" Loki joked, and Dahlia rolled his eyes again.

"Just concentrate," Dahlia put her hand on his shoulder, resting it there. "You'll get it eventually."

-

"I taught you this?" Dahlia asked quietly once the memory was finished. Loki nodded, looking a lot less tired but still tired.

"You did." Loki said, laying back down onto his pillow.

"Huh." Dahlia didn't sit down yet.

"Are you still not going to sleep?" Loki asked, looking up at her. Dahlia looked down at him, before running a hand through her pretty messy hair. She hadn't fixed it since Loki had fixed it before battle of New York, and the state of it had worsened during her breakdown in the Asgardian dungeons.

"Is my hair a lost cause?" Dahlia asked, which was completely out of nowhere. Her curls were all messed up and tangly, but Loki still shook his head.

"Of course not."

"Are you sure?"

Loki sat back up, moving back next to Dahlia, this time softly touching her hair. He would just magically make it appear better, but he was tired, and drained. He didn't have the energy for it.

"I could help you braid it?" He offered quietly, running his hand very, very carefully through part of her hair. Somehow he easily seperated the part, detangling it with just a soft touch.

"You can go to sleep if you want to," Dahlia said, and Loki let out a small, soft laugh at that.

"You've already interrupted my sleep, I might aswell help you sleep,"

Loki helped Dahlia braid her hair, all in one big braid that started at the front of her head, and led all the way down in a straight, big braid. Her hair reached all the way to her hip while in the braid, and once Loki finished, he flashed a small, warm smile at her. "Will you finally try to rest now?" he asked, making eye contact with her.

"I'm keeping you awake,"

"Obviously."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"What makes you think that?"

Dahlia paused, and Loki seemed kind of concerned. "You ask so many questions about my thoughts," he said, before laying down. "You used to just...read them."

"Humans don't like getting their mind read all the time."

"No one does."

"You've never complained."

"Because I'm not hiding anything from you." Loki said bluntly, closing his eyes but he didn't actually seem tired anymore.

"What about those conversations for another time?"

"I'm not hiding them from you, Dahl."

"Then why haven't we had them?"

Loki sighed, opening his eyes and looking at Dahlia again. "It's complicated."

"Uncomplicate it?" Dahlia asked, like an impatient child.

"That's not how it works."

Dahlia sighed, knowing he was right. "Sorry."

"Sleep,"

Dahlia finally laid down, but her eyes were still open, looking at Loki.

"What?" Loki asked her, very softly this time.

"How much did you actually see happen to me on Earth?" Lia asked, just as quietly.

"Are you sure you want to be having this conversation right now?"

Dahlia just nodded at him.

"I don't want you to cry again." Loki said, even softer.

"I don't cry."

Loki paused, a small, sad smile on his face. "I know you don't."

"How much did you see?" She repeated.

Loki looked away from her eyes for a moment, before reaching for her hand and very loosely holding it. "A lot of drugs," he started, quietly, "A lot of needles, a lot of...physical violence," he met her eyes for a very short moment before looking away again. "A lot of tears." he said at last, before going quiet.

Dahlia wasn't crying, she was just looking at Loki, waiting to see if he would say anything more.

"I'm so terribly sorry you had to endure any of it, Dahl." he said, after the moment of silence passed. "I wish I'd known you were alive."

"Did you mourn me?"

The question caught Loki offguard, and he met her eyes once again, "Of course I did."

Dahlia looked at his eyes, as if she was reading them, before nodding. "Okay."

"okay?" Loki repeated.

Dahlia nodded. "You can go to sleep now."

"Will you do the same?"

Lia nodded at him once more.

"Don't hesitate to wake me if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay."


	12. chapter twelve.

"That statue is..."

"Amazing?" 'Odin', well, Loki, finished Dahlia's sentence for her.

"Overkill." Dahlia corrected.

"I think it's pretty nice."

"You're concieted," Dahlia joked, rolling her eyes. They were looking at a giant statue of Loki, made out of gold, that Loki had put up in the memory of his 'death'.

Dahlia knew the only reason Loki was pushing his own legacy so harshly was to forget about his mother's death, and she decided not to push him on the subject. She wasn't entirely sure if he would speak to her if he needed to, but she hoped so.

"Would you like a statue aswell?" 'Odin' asked, jokingly.

"For what? I'm not dead."

"That can be arranged," 'Odin' laughed, before going to grab a cup of wine, brought to him by an asgardian servant.

Dahlia rolled her eyes, and got another laugh out of her best friend. "Well, when you think about it, Asgard did think you dead up until recently." 'Odin' said, before turning to walk back to the castle, Dahlia following.

"How is the search for someway to bring all my memories back going?" Dahlia asked, and 'Odin' looked at her before turning away, "It would be going much better if we could figure out how you lost them." he said, a little upset he hadnt figured out a way to fix if yet.

"It's been six months," Dahlia mumbled, and 'Odin' nodded, "The book your parents left might have something." he said, meeting her eyes. They were usually just staring at him during conversations. Dahlia had a thing for immense eyecontact, which again, had to do with her being an empath. She'd gotten mocked for it when they were younger, but eventually people just got used to it.

Loki hadn't touched Dahlia's book except for when she had showed parts of it to him. It wasn't his book, and he respected her. He knew he was the only person she had shown the book to, and decided that when she died, the book would just have to die with her, never being touched again.

"Do you know where it is?" Dahlia asked, and 'Odin' nodded. "I hid it for you after you were presumed dead."

"Can we go get it?"

'Odin' nodded, before walking towards his own, well, what used to be his own bedroom that now stood empty.

He walked in, and Dahlia followed. The second she closed the door, magic embraced 'Odin' and turned him back to Loki. He moved his hands, and the book magically appeared in his hands. He handed it to Dahlia, but she handed it back.

He looked at her like a big question mark, and she just nodded at the book. "Chances are you're gonna have to learn the spell, not me. You look." Dahlia hummed, and Loki rolled his eyes dramatically before sitting sown on the bed and fairly quickly searching through the book.

While Loki read, Dahlia started going through his closet. There was a lot of green. Dahlia had some fun going through his clothes while he skimmed through the book.

"Find anything interesting?" Dahlia asked, still staring into Loki's closet.

"Not yet," he mumbled, concentrating on skimming through the book. Dahlia's parents had been thorough with how they described spells. Too thorough. It was work to read that book.

"Read faster," Dahlia joked, before grabbing a big cloak from Loki's closet. She'd never seen him wear it, so she put it on. It was purple, like the rest of her outfit, and complimented it nicely, with a huge hood.

"What are yo-Oh." Loki looked up from the book to see Dahlia wearing a cloak. her cloak, actually. But she probably didn't remember that.

"This doesn't seem like your style," Dahlia commented as she looked in the mirror.

"It's not mine."

"It was in your closet?"

"It was yours, before you...disappeared."

"Oh."

Dahlia admired the cloak in the mirror before turning to Loki. "How do I look?"

"Amazing as always," Loki said with an eyeroll, but Dahlia flashed a big, genuine smile either way.

he went back to reading, and Dahlia sat down right next to him, reading the book with him in silence.

After about ten minutes, Loki stopped reading. "This-I think this might be it-" he said, looking up from the book and over at Dahlia, who looked down at the book again.

"Really?"

"I mean-It seems like it should be-"

"Do you think you can do it?"

Loki looked down at the book again. "Do-Do you remember exactly...how you lost your memories?"

Dahlia shook her head.

Loki nodded, reading a bit more. "I-I think I could do, at least-at least a majority of your memories...but it seems it would be easier if I knew what caused the amnesia."

Dahlia nodded in agreement, but she still didn't know how it had happened. "I remember walking around on earth, with no memory of where I was, how I got there, or what happened." She said, and Loki nodded a bit more. He seemed a bit stressed out by this.

"I can try, but don't get disappointed with me if it doesn't work," he said quietly, rereading the page a few more times. Dahlia nodded silently at this, and after a while of reading, Loki nodded at her.

"It might knock you out," Loki explained to Dahlia, and she just nodded.

Loki looked at her as if she was stupid for not responding, "...lay down," he said after getting no reaction.

"Ohh," Dahlia hummed before laying down on her back onto Loki's bed.

Loki stood up, standing by the edge of the bed, the book was laying besides Dahlia, open so Loki could still look at it.

He moved his open hans, palms facing towards Dahlia, over her a few times, before closing his eyes, doing it a few more times, before everything went black for Dahlia, her head moved slightly more into the bed, and her eyes closed completely shut.

-

Dahlia Fredriksdottir's memory, 1860

"Hey, Dahlia?" younger Loki asked, which made Dahlia look up at him. They were in the royal stable for their horses, Dahlia was brushing a young foal. The horse was completely black. She had gotten to name it.

Dahlia had yet to meet the king, queen or even older prince, but Loki was originally the one given permission to name the horse, instead he let Dahlia pick.

She'd chosen the name Midnight. She thought it fit him nicely, given he was such a dark horse. Loki had agreed.

"Yeah?" Dahlia responded, still petting the young horse.

"Why don't you let anyone call you 'Dahl'?" Loki asked, leaning against one of the stable's walls.

Dahlia shrugged. "It feels too...personal? Everyone's always called me Lia or Dahlia." she looked back down at the horse, smiling at it and continuing to brush it.

"Well...Could I call you Dahl?"

Dahlia looked back up at Loki, slightly confused. "Why?"

"Because...it's...personal?"

"I don't get it." Dahlia said, honestly not understanding what Loki was getting at.

"No one calls you Dahl, because it's too personal," Loki explained, "But I'm...your friend, so I should get to call you 'Dahl'?" he said unsurely.

Dahlia looked genuinely confused by this. "None of my other friends call me Dahl."

"But I'm...special, right?" Loki asked, still leaning against the wall.

Dahlia made a few kissy sounds at the horse, before walking towards Loki. "You can get to call me Dahl...iiiiiiif...." she paused, before tapping his shoulder twice, quickly. "If you can jump in that big bundle of hay quicker than I can-" she said before sprinting towards a huuuge ball of hay, easily big enough for five different people to jump in without harming themselves.

Loki, who was quite a lot taller and faster than Dahlia, raced past her, grabbed her by the waist on the way, and jumped into the hale, while still holding Dahlia, landing on his back with Dahlia laying on top of him.

"I won." Loki said, letting go of Dahlia and letting her sink into the hay.

"Cheater." Dahlia laughed, before throwing some hay his way.

"Did not cheat!"

"Yes you did!"

"There were no rules, Dahl." Loki said with a small smile, which Dahlia returned, a warm aura embracing them both.


	13. chapter thirteen.

Dahlia woke up after about an hour. Loki was still in the room, but he had moved, sitting next to her on the bed, reading a book with one hand, the other hand resting on top of Dahlia's, feeling her pulse the entire time.

All her memories, or at least almost all, had actually returned. She didn't really re-live them, but it was more like they had just...always been there again.

All the memories she used to have, except...how she lost them. All the memories leading up to the day she disappeared.

"You're awake," Loki stated, putting the book down at looking over at Dahlia, retracting his hand away from her wrist.

"Did it wo-"  
"It worked."  
"...you're sure?" he asked, scanning her with his eyes.  
"I'm sure." Dahlia nodded.  
"Do you remember how you lost them?"  
Dahlia shook her head.  
Loki sighed. "It must be magic, magic better than mine..."

Loki flashed a lighthearted smile at her. "Here," he handed her the book, and Dahlia took it, sitting up.

"Are you hungry?" Loki asked, standing up from the bed before extending his hand to help Lia stand up aswell.

She nodded, took his hand and got up, he transformed back into posing as Odin, and they went to the dining hall together.

They finished eating, and once they were finished, Dahlia went to go through her old home, the house that had been left empty since she had disappeared.

It was originally Dahl's parents, Snotra and Fredrik's home, but when they passed away in 1022, it was left empty until Dahl turned 866 years old, in 1866. Though still considered a young teen at that age, Dahlia had been to stubborn to be stopped from moving back into her original house.

She had been living with her uncle the years in between, but they never had much of a relationship. They just wort of...existed in the same house. So when Dahlia decided she was going to move for herself to her parents' abandoned house, he didn't bother trying to stop her.

Dahlia went to the house alone, Loki was going to do his royal duties, and since he was disguised as Odin, it would be seen as particularly odd if Lia were to follow him.

She opened the door to her home, roaming around the dusty and abandoned place. It hadn't aged super poorly considering no one had been taking care of it since Dahlia disappeared. Quite frankly, Dahlia didn't want to move back in anyway. She would probably never feel safe alone again, and Loki was the best friend she'd ever had, so she would obviously much rather spend her days and nights in the castle, than all alone close to her non caring uncle.

Dahlia spent some time in the house, just...trying to feel at home but, she still felt uncomfortable and unsafe. Result of the trauma she suffered on earth, probably. It seemed she had grown a slightly unhealthy co dependancy on Loki, but personally, she didn't mind. Time would show if he would mind, all she could do until then was...try to heal.

She went back to the castle and went looking for Loki, eventually finding him, still posing as Odin, in the stables.

"What are you doing?" Lia asked, watching 'Odin' just sort of sit in the stable. He turned to see her, and looked around slightly warily before turning himself back to Loki.

"Checking up on my-well...your-" Loki cleared his throat, looking at the huge stallion in front of him. "Midnight,"

"Woah." Dahlia let out as she walked over to Loki and the huge horse. "He's....bigger."

Loki laughed slightly, "He wasn't that much smaller last time you saw him, was he?"

"He was barely an adult horse the last time I saw him," Dahlia said as she reached out to pet the horse, and it let her pet it as much as she wanted.

"Hey, Midnight," Dahlia greeted the horse as she pet it's head, the horse bent its neck slightly down to make it even easier for her to pet it.

"Do you wanna go for a ride?" Loki asked, looking at Dahlia as she pet the horse.  
"I don't think I remember how to do that properly, Loki, I've only ever ridden a horse twice." she shook her head with a small smile on her face.

Loki rolled his eyes before swiftly picking Dahlia up and throwing her on the back of the horse, who was still completely calm.

Dahlia let out a yelp before unsteadily sitting on top of the horse.

"I'm-Loki! I'm gonna fall off-" Dahlia laughed, wrapping her arms as far as they could reach around the horse's neck. Loki laughed at her before quickly jumping onto the horse aswell, sitting behind Dahlia.

"He would never throw us off," Loki said as he balanced himself on the horse's back, making Dahlia sit with her back straight before reaching around Dahlia's waist for the horses rein, momentarily making Dahlia's breath hitch.

"You're worrying for no good reason," Loki said quietly before making the horse start to walk, fairly quickly, right out of the stable and into the garden.

"What if someone sees you-You're supposed to be dea-"  
"No one can see us right now," Loki said calmly. It was a bit dark outside, but certainly not dark enough for them to not be seen.  
"What do you mean? It's not that dark out yet-"  
"I've figured out a way to conceal myself from others," Loki said matter of factly, the horse still walking. "Even Heimdall can't see me unless I let him."

Dahlia turned to look at Loki, who was still calmly looking at where he was making the horse walk.

"You mean to tell me you can turn invisible?" she asked, not believing him.  
"Mhm." he hummed, and Dahlia shook her head, turning back to face the same way he was facing.  
"That's...impressive."

"Thank you," Loki laughed slightly, before making the horse speed slightly up, which made Dahlia grip Loki's arms, only making him laugh more.

"I want to show you something," Loki said as the horse slowed slightly down. Midnight was walking them towards the mountains behind the castle, up a small path that had clearly been walked many times before.

"So full of surprises," Dahlia rolled her eyes, and Loki laughed slightly.

Eventually, they got to a hill on the mountain, and Midnight stopped walking. Loki hopped off the horse, and then helped Dahlia get off by lifting her up and then putting her down on her feet.

"What did you want to show me?" Dahlia asked, and Loki sat down close to the edge of the hill, Dahlia followed, sitting down right next to him.

"Just the view." He turned to her with a small smile, before turning back.

They stayed silent for a few minutes, before Dahlia decided to speak up.

"You never did explain why Thor has mourned you twice..." she said quietly, more like a question, and Loki took a deep breath, still not looking at her.

"Thor was exiled, temporarily, for starting a war between us and the Jotuns...so I tried to destroy Jotunheim to easily end the war, considering at that time I was actually king, since Thor was exiled and Odin was in odinsleep, but Thor showed up...tried to stop me," Loki ran a hnd very quickly through his hair.

"He destroyed the bifrost, that's why it's currently not working," he looked at Dahlia for a quick moment before turning away.

"When the bifrost was destroyed, I fell, aswell as Thor, but I caught onto my sceptre, and Thor held onto said sceptre, and keeping us both from falling into a pretty certain death, was Odin, now out of his Odin-sleep."

Dahlia nodded silently as she followed the story.

"And I just...let go of the sceptre."  
"You tried to end your own life?"

Loki didn't respond to Dahlia's question, he just kept looking at the view. Dahlia didn't want to press it, as an empath, she could already tell the answer was yes, and there was nothing she could do about it, she wasn't there. All she could do was sit there, feeling the same upsetting emotions he was feeling, knowing she could do nothing to erase the past.


	14. chapter fourteen.

[a/n; 月が綺麗ですね | tsuki ga kirei desu ne translates to "The moon is beautiful, isn't it?" This phrase is a more poetic way of saying I love you.  
An appropriately literary response suggested by the novelist Shimei Futabatei (1864-1909) would be 死んでもいいわ | shindemo iiwa - "I can die happy."]

"When are you going to explain to me why you lost the battle on Earth on purpose?" Dahlia asked, still very quietly, and not pressing at all, when a few minutes of silence had passed.

Loki looked at her, his eyes all big and sad again. "I didn't volunteer to attack earth," he said, just as quietly, looking down at his hands. "I was 'rescued' after I fell from the bifrost, into a wormhole, by someone....someone who is immensely power hungry and extremely...gruesome."

Dahlia tried to get Loki to make eyecontact while speaking, but he wouldn't. 

"He's still out there." Loki said quietly, "I'm not sure how much he could see or hear me do while on earth, so I decided to not...speak on it," he met Dahlia's eyes for a split second, before quickly diverting his gaze back to his own hands.

"How do you know he can't see you now?" Lia asked, very hesitantly, and Loki met her eyes, this time not quickly diverting them.

"If he could, I would be dead for failing at getting him his infinity stone."

Dahlia nodded slightly, trying to figure out what to say to that.

"You failed on purpose knowing it could cause your death?"

"If...If he gets those stones, half the universe is going to be dead, Dahl." Loki said, before looking down at his hands again.

"I only spent a year around him, I'm certain what torture I endured is nothing compared to what you had to endure on Earth, but it is still...haunting."

Loki's head was hanging down a little bit, and his hair was covering parts of his face. Even when sad, he looked so much healthier now than he had when she'd reunited with him on earth. So did she.

"Is that why you keep waking up in the middle of the night?"  
"You noticed that?"  
"I'm an empath, of course I noticed-"  
"I...."

"Did you fake your death to ensure he wouldn't cause it?" Lia asked, softly, trying to make him meet her eyes but he didn't.

He just hummed quietly in agreement, and she nodded, looking out towards the view. It was completely dark by now. After a little while of silence, Loki leaned back, lying on his back, looking at the stars.

Dahlia leant back aswell, and they stayed there for a little in some more silence.

"The moon is beautiful, isn't it?" Loki asked, very quietly, barely loud enough for Dahlia to hear.

She didn't turn her head or anything, instead she quietly answered, "I can die happy."

Loki turned to look at her, but Dahlia's head didn't move, she just kept looking at the sky, until she eventually fell asleep.

She woke up to Loki, very softly trying to get her up on the horse again to bring her back to the castle without waking her, but she woke up.

Loki didn't say anything, he just flashed a small smile at her as he realised she was awake. He helped her up on the horse, and he got up behind her, and they silently, slowly made their way to the stable. Once they got there, Loki quickly hopped off the horse to help Dahlia get off aswell.

Dahlia was still tired, even after the horseride back, and instinctively grabbed a hold of Loki's hand as he walked her back to the king's bedroom, walking her all the way onto the bed before laying on the polar opposite side of the bed.

Dahlia fell asleep a little before Loki did, but eventually, he managed to fall asleep too.

When Loki woke up the next morning, instead of waking to Dahlia still being on the opposite side of the bed, she was directly next to him, her forehead pressed against his shoulder as she snored.

He moved to get up, but Dahlia's arm was wrapped around his as if he were a stuffed animal. He quickly decided against moving, not wanting to interrupt her very peaceful sleep. For such a seemingly self obsessed person, this seemed fairly selfless, but Loki had always been selfless when it came to Dahlia. Always.

Dahlia was the one person Loki had met that treated her as an equal, not a prince, not a younger brother, but a friend. When he'd lost her, he lost his feeling of being at home, and now that she had returned, he was grateful, but it still hurt.

86 years is a long time to go without someone, especially if you think them dead. those 86 years of healing had been ripped open the second Loki accidentally viewed 'Patient Zero's files when he attacked SHIELD.

He loved Dahlia. He'd known this for a while now, the moment it really set in was when she was announced dead. Loki was generally not very available, but after Dahlia's disappearance, he wasn't like himself for several years. less mischievous, more...well, more sad.

He'd spent time alone, and spent time with her...well, his...well...their horse. he'd spent a small amount of time in her old home too, but it only made him sadder.

Loki had never had good experiences with friendships. the closest friendships he'd ever had, besides Dahlia, had been people who only spoke to him to get to Thor, and eventually ditched him for his older brother. When Dahlia 'died', it was the last nail in the coffin, and he completely shut himself out of the question for friendship.

Dahlia coming back didn't make him want to make more friends, though. Really, it made him just want to do anything he could do to make up for what he'd seen her endure. It was horrid, and he'd barely witnessed a fraction of it. What hurt him the most was her breakdown in the Asgardian Dungeons, because he was actually there, in real time, watching it but completely unable to stop it.

Loki, who was very broken himself, felt heavy guilt over what had happened to Dahlia, even though it was out of his control. He was still trying to figure out how she had originally lost her memories. Heimdall had claimed he could not see her, thats how she was originally announced dead.

Loki had realized by now, that Heimdall had either lied, or Dahlia was being concealed by someone better than Loki. Truly, it could be either option. Loki couldn't exactly ask Heimdall, seeing as he had fled from the Asgardian authorities after betraying the actual Odin when helping Thor and Loki get revenge on the dark elves.

Loki stayed as still as possible in the bed for a fairly long time, before Dahlia let go of his arm, still asleep, and turned around. He took that as his cue to get up, without making it awkward, and decided he would send someone else to wake her so they could eat breakfast together, like they did everyday.


End file.
